Tempt Me in Vegas

by Maureen Child

  “I couldn’t have accomplished so much so quickly if I hadn’t been able to count on you.” Cooper took a sip of his Scotch, then set it down again.

  “That’s good to hear,” Dave said, nodding. Lifting his own glass, he took a sip and gave a quick glance around Cooper’s private suite. It was palatial and, as always, Dave felt a swift, hard stab of envy that he was just barely able to disguise. He was paid very well and still he couldn’t come close to living as Cooper did.

  And damn it, he wanted to.

  Dave’s parents had worked hard all their lives and never got anywhere. They hadn’t been able to help him with college. He’d put himself through and getting Cooper Hayes as a roommate had just been a damn bonus. Dave had gotten close to Cooper and slowly cut ties with his blue-collar family as he began to move in higher, glossier circles. By the time he graduated and went to work at Hayes along with Cooper, Dave had turned his back on his own past completely, in favor of his future.

  Hell, he hadn’t seen his family in more than ten years and if anyone asked about them, Dave kept it simple and told people they were all dead. Easier that way.

  “I’m going to want to make some changes once I have unilateral power. Jacob doesn’t see things the way I do. He thinks one hotel in London is sufficient. But why have one when you can have two or three?”

  Musing aloud, Cooper said again, “Once I’m in charge, everything will change.”

  “Well, that turned out to be true, anyway,” Dave muttered, slapping one hand to the window glass, warm from the October sun. This woman’s arrival had ruined everything. Now Cooper had a partner again. He wasn’t completely in charge and wouldn’t be unless they could get rid of Terri Ferguson. And until that happened, Dave wouldn’t get what he’d been working toward for more than ten years.

  Oh, he knew that Cooper’s plan was to get little Miss Utah out of Vegas as quickly as possible. But Dave wasn’t fooling himself about this. He’d seen the interest on Cooper’s face as he looked at Terri Ferguson. And if Cooper was that attracted, the urgency to chase the woman off would fade. Pretty soon she’d be settled in, making plans, and Dave’s plans would be completely obliterated.

  Pushing away from the window, he stalked back to his desk and sat down to stare at the image of the blonde who had, just by being here, become his enemy. As Cooper and Terri disappeared into the elevator, Dave shut down the surveillance feed. There were no cameras in the private elevator or the owner’s floor so there was no point in trying to track them.

  Alone with his thoughts again, Dave’s mind raced with plans, possibilities. He had to find a way to get rid of Terri Ferguson and make it look like leaving was her own idea. He had to convince the gorgeous blonde that she was out of her depth. It wouldn’t be easy, of course. But Dave had handled tough assignments for years.

  He could handle this, too.

  But first, he told himself, it was time to call out the Big Guns, and he reached for the phone.

  * * *

  She wasn’t what Cooper had expected.

  His own fault, really. He could have done research on her. He’d handed that off to Dave and then never followed up. Mainly because he hadn’t wanted to even think about having to deal with a new partner, for God’s sake. If he had done due diligence, he might have been prepared for his first sight of her.

  The world he traveled in was populated by celebrities, wealthy business people and other so-called “elites.” When he’d heard that his new partner, Terri Ferguson, was a bank teller from Utah, somehow he’d expected...less. He wasn’t even sure what, really. Only that Terri was more—much more—than he’d imagined.

  She filled his vision to the point of shutting out everything else. She was tall, which he appreciated. He’d always hated bending nearly in half to look a woman in the eye or to kiss her senseless. This woman probably stood five feet eight inches without the three-inch black heels she wore. Her dress was a deep, rich blue that hugged curves designed to drive a man crazy. The swirling hem of her dress stopped well above her knees, displaying long, shapely legs that were toned and tanned. The bodice was cut low enough to be tempting and she wore a black shrug sweater against the October chill.

  Her long blond hair tumbled across her shoulders and down her back in thick, heavy waves and her summer-blue eyes were pinned on him. Just for a second, he indulged himself with another look at the full, rich curve of her breasts and his body stirred in response. Damn it. She was beautiful.

  And a distraction he didn’t want or need, he reminded himself.

  The only reason she was there, in his hotel, was to throw a monkey wrench into the middle of Cooper’s business plans. So it didn’t matter what she looked like, or that his body was tight and uncomfortable just looking at her. All that mattered was that he get her to sign over her half of the business in exchange for the huge buyout he was willing to offer her.

  The bellman skidded to a stop when he spotted Cooper. “Mr. Hayes. I was just showing Ms. Ferguson to her suite, sir.”

  “So I see.” Cooper took two long steps forward and stopped right in front of her. He was close enough to see the flash of something...interesting in her eyes. To hear the quick intake of breath and to notice how she squared her shoulders as if preparing for battle. Which, whether she knew it or not, he told himself, was the right reaction to this situation.

  “You’re Cooper Hayes,” she said and he deliberately refused to notice the low pitch of her voice. Decided to not wonder how that voice would sound as a whisper in the darkness.

  “I am,” he said. “I’ve been expecting you.”

  Bill stood there, swiveling his head back and forth, watching the two of them as if he was at a tennis match.

  “Sorry I’m late?” She smiled with the question and her eyes lit up. Completely irrelevant.

  “You’re not late. I just thought you would arrive sooner than you did.”

  Cooper noticed the bellman now getting even more interested in the conversation and he had no interest in supplying his employees with entertainment. Fixing his gaze on the younger man, he said, “I’ll take it from here, thanks.”

  “Yes, sir.” Bill shot Terri what Cooper thought of as a sympathetic glance, then Bill turned and hurried back to the main lobby.

  “Wow, he moved fast.” Terri sent a quick look over her shoulder. “Do you inspire fear in all your employees?”

  “Not fear,” he corrected. “Respect.”

  “Oh, of course. Wide eyes and a dead run are sure signs of respect.”

  He took a breath. Apparently, she’d be harder to intimidate than the people who worked for him. “Are we going to talk about the bellman, or would you like to see your suite?”

  Terri grinned. “I can do both.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” he muttered. Gripping the suitcase handle with one hand, he placed the other at the small of her back, turning her toward the bank of elevators and one that stood alone, separate from the rest.

  “Anyway,” she said, turning her head to take in the expansive casino behind them, “I’d have been here sooner, but there was a lot to do. I had to put in for a leave of absence at my job, get my car checked to make sure it was safe for the drive—”

  “You drove?” He interrupted the flow of words because he was pretty sure that was the only chance he’d have to speak at all. “If you had called to let us know you were coming, I’d have sent the jet for you.”

  “You have your own jet?” she asked, goggling at him.

  “We do.”

  “We have a jet. Right. Who doesn’t?” Shaking her head, she took a breath and said, “Anyway, I drove so I could stop off in St. George to see my mom and my aunt. Tell them what had happened and get them to babysit my dog for me because I didn’t know how long I’d be gone and I couldn’t ask my friend to watch her for who knows how many days—”

  “You have a dog
?” Cooper didn’t know why that hit him, but it did. It was something that hadn’t come up in Dave’s research, either. Cooper’d never had a dog. Or a cat. Or hell, even a hamster. Growing up in a hotel didn’t lend itself to pets. As a kid, that had bothered him. Apparently, it still did.

  She grinned. “Yes. Daisy’s a cute mix of about a hundred and fifty different breeds, and she thinks she’s a Great Dane, so she needs a lot of attention and really doesn’t like being left alone. My mom loves her, so Daisy’s happy and—”

  “What did your mom say about all of this?” Another interruption and he didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about it. Until she spoke.

  “You keep interrupting me. That’s rude, you know, but it’s okay for now.”

  “Thanks so much,” he said wryly, but she apparently didn’t catch the sarcasm.

  “Mom’s as freaked out by this as I am,” Terri continued. “Neither of us knew anything about my biological parents so we’re kind of shocked to find out my birth father even knew who I was, let alone where I was. Sorry. Rambling. The point is, I had a few things to take care of before I could come to Vegas.”

  That bright, brilliant smile had knocked him back for a second but thankfully she hadn’t noticed. He felt off his game and that was something Cooper couldn’t afford. With that firmly in mind, he brushed aside her rambling. “Doesn’t matter. You’re here now.” Nodding, he slid a card into the slot of the stand-alone elevator. “This is a private elevator. It’s the one you’ll use to get to and from your suite. The other elevators stop at the nineteenth floor. This one goes directly to the top five floors and the roof.”

  “Okay...” Another deep breath and he refused to notice how her breasts lifted with the action.

  Focusing had never been an issue for Cooper. Until today, apparently.

  “The waitstaff and housekeeping have their own elevators that will take them to the top floors for business purposes. The general public can’t access the higher floors.”

  “Sounds very...secure.”

  If she was joking he let her know by his tone that he didn’t find it funny. “As secure as technology can make it. Hayes Corporation offices are on the twentieth floor,” he said, turning his focus from her to the matter at hand. “And on twenty-one, two and three we have suites for special guests, dignitaries, celebrities...anyone whose security issues demand a safe, impregnable, luxury suite.”

  “Impregnable. Right. Sounds cozy.” She nodded as the elevator doors whisked open.

  “Our guests don’t come here for ‘cozy.’”

  “Good thing,” she murmured.

  He took that as a direct insult. “A cozy hotel is a B and B. A Hayes hotel offers luxury. Exclusivity.”

  She blinked at him. “Wow. That sounds terrible.”

  Surprised again, he said, “What about that is terrible?”

  “Oh, just everything, but never mind...”

  Cooper thought about arguing her ridiculous point but buried his irritation instead. Unknowingly, she was proving that he was right to want to buy her out of this partnership. If she didn’t understand the basics of the hotel industry, then she had no business being a partner. Certainly not his partner.

  He took a breath. “The owners’ suites are on the twenty-fourth floor.” Cooper steered her inside the open elevator, slid his card into the slot again, pushed the right button and stood back, looking at her. With the mirrored wall behind her, he was able to take her all in at once. And he had to admit, every damn view he got of her was a good one.

  Too bad she was such a pain in the ass.

  The elevator swept up in a rush and she laughed, a rich, deep bubble of sound that whipped through the small, enclosed space and wrapped itself around his throat until Cooper felt like he couldn’t breathe. Pure enjoyment wreathed her features, when only a moment or two before, she’d been irritated, and damned if he wasn’t...captivated. Most women he knew were more guarded about their emotions. But Terri was honest and open and he found that intriguing.

  She grabbed hold of the brass rail at her side, tossed her hair back and slanted him a delighted glance. “Well, that’s faster than I expected.”

  “Express elevator.” His own voice sounded as tight as he felt. Cooper watched her staring up at the elevator roof and realized she was the first woman he’d been with in this elevator who didn’t turn and check herself out in the mirror. Every female he knew would fluff her hair or smooth her lipstick or simply give her appearance a mental thumbs-up. Terri Ferguson, though, was looking up at the digital midnight sky.

  “That’s so fabulous. Like the lobby.” She shook her head. “I love the shooting stars. It looks so real.”

  “I wouldn’t know. Living in a city with this much ambient light, you don’t see many stars.”

  She leveled her gaze on him. “Now, that’s a shame.”

  “I’ve never thought so.”

  “Then you don’t know what you’re missing,” she said, looking at him with what could only be sympathy.

  Well, Cooper Hayes didn’t need anyone to feel sorry for him. Especially over something as minor as not being a stargazer. Watching her, he figured this was just one example of how the two of them were from different worlds. She looked at the stars in the sky, and the only stars he was interested in were the celebrities who came to his hotels. Yeah, a partnership between them would be doomed. Best to end it as soon as possible.

  She turned her gaze back to the ceiling, a soft smile on her face, when falling stars left trails of gold dust across a digital sky. Cooper didn’t bother looking at the illusion. Instead, he watched her pleased smile and wondered why the hell he was enjoying it.

  Deliberately, he brushed it off and started talking. “We work with a company who designs and installs illusionist skies in the hallways, casino, the lobby. StarFire can follow you all over the hotel.”

  “That’s amazing. I’m a little technologically challenged, so imagining people who can do that? Wow.” She looked at him. “It’s really great. I mean, everything I’ve seen since I walked in the door has been just beautiful.”

  Her face was open and easy to read. So he saw her excitement, the touch of nerves in the way her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. The easy curve of that smile did things to him he really didn’t want to think about. Irritated, he snapped, “Glad you approve.”

  And just like that, her smile wobbled and her eyes lost that sparkle.

  Idiot.

  Being charming with a beautiful woman had never been difficult for him. Before Terri Ferguson, apparently.

  He spoke up again quickly. “The illusions are relatively new. Installed just a couple years ago, but everyone seems to like them.”

  “I can see why.” She relaxed again, but her eyes still looked wary, as if she had walls up because she’d wandered into a hotbed of enemies. Which he really didn’t want her to be thinking. He needed her to see him not as an enemy, but rather as a man who was going to do her the favor of sparing her all the work necessary to keep a company like Hayes Corporation running.

  “You said yourself this was a strange situation to be in,” he reminded her with a deliberately casual shrug. “Well, I only found out about you a few days ago, too.”

  She blinked at him. “Jacob never said anything about me?”

  “No. I didn’t find out the truth until a few hours before you did. So now we’re both surprised.” He tapped one finger on the key card folder she held. “Anyway, your card will take you to any of the top floors. Right now I’m showing you to your owner’s suite.”

  She dragged in another breath, tossed her hair back over her shoulder and tightened her grip on the cold, brass rail. “Is that where my father stayed?”

  “Only when he was in town. He mainly lived in New York.”

  Even to him, his voice sounded cool, disinterested—and that wasn’t good. If Cooper’s pla
n was to smooth the way for her to become an in-name-only partner, then he needed to be a hell of a lot more amiable than he’d managed to be so far. It shouldn’t have been difficult at all, but his attraction to her was throwing him off balance. Not something Cooper enjoyed. “Jacob wasn’t in Vegas often over the last couple of years, so I didn’t see much of him. And I would have, since I live here in the hotel.”

  Her gaze snapped to his. “You do?”

  He’d surprised her and he supposed he could understand it. In her world, people probably lived in neat little houses with backyards and dogs and kids. People visited hotels; they didn’t live there.

  “I practically grew up here,” he told her. “Always figured to move out eventually. Get a place away from the Strip, but I realized I like the Strip. And living here is easy. My office is right downstairs. Twenty-four-hour room service, and housekeeping.”

  “Sure. Of course. Well, housekeeping I really understand. That would be handy.” She laughed a little and he heard the nerves in it. “Sorry.” She held up one hand and shook her head, smiling wryly. “This is hard to take in. Last week I juggled bills so I could pay to have my car fixed and now...”

  “Now you can buy any car you want.”

  She blew out a breath. “That hasn’t really settled in yet.”

  “Get used to it,” Cooper advised quietly.

  This was good. He wanted her to realize that the money she’d inherited could change her life. He wanted her to go out and play, explore the world. Hell, do anything but stay in Vegas and try to help him run his company.

  “Your old world is over.” When the elevator doors opened with a whoosh, he added, “Welcome to your new one.”

  A wide hallway where the sun shone through several skylights plugged into the ceiling stretched out on either side of the elevator. Pale blue carpet covered the floor, and the soft gray walls held framed photos of different hotels in the Hayes chain. Cooper watched her take it all in and felt a flush of pride. He was so used to his surroundings, he rarely noticed any of it. But her reaction to the place made him pause briefly to enjoy what he’d built.